I refer to the Malaysiakini report Muhyiddin: Vote-buying rampant in Umno .
It sounds so very funny when Muhyiddin Yasin says this about Umno corrupt practices: "It is sad if one day the people see this problem as synonymous with Umno". Has he been living on some other planet?
That’s the problem with ministers and political leaders especially from Umno who live in self-denial. Rampant corruption has been happening right under his nose, but Muhyiddin - like other Umno leaders - not only always pretended Umno elections were clean but always looked the other way.
Even children know that people join Umno because it’s there that you get awards, positions, power, wealth and all the licenses to a luxurious life. If you are member of Umno, you don’t even have to serve, but 75 percent of all state and national awards are yours.
And those who really slog for the underprivileged, downtrodden and the less fortunate "can go to hell" as barked by one Umno member when forcing a very crucial discussion at the Bar Council to stop.
Just go around the country and see for yourself the colossal houses they live in, the big cars they drive, the designer clothes they wear, the many wives they have, not to mention the strings of mistresses known for excessive spending and compulsive shopping.
Even Bank Bumiputra had to go bankrupt a couple of times and Petronas and EPF coffers had to be used to save some cronies.
Sometime back, one Umno leader, being also a minister, took a full plane load of about 350 Umno members to holiday in Africa all disguised as business people. That was a blatant misuse of public funds but Dr Mahathir Mohamad, then the PM, decided to look the other way.
It is also a public knowledge that Umno division leaders take their party voters to Indonesia, Thailand and other popular destinations with ‘you know what’ thrown in.
Anyone can tell you who are the most corrupt leaders in Malaysia. Many Umno leaders themselves have spoken out on this issue, including both ex-PM Mahathir and the present PM Abdullah Ahmad Badawi.
Almost all development contracts given through the district offices, municipal councils, JKR, the ministries and government agencies go to Umno members who pose as contractors. And almost all of them sub-contract the work out.
Some contracts go down several levels of ‘Ali Baba-ing’ and the person who got the project only gets peanuts. It is a well-known fact that only 30 to 40 percent of the development allocation actually goes to a project and the rest goes into Umno pockets.
There are plenty of names in Umno linked to corruption. From top to bottom, Umno is sodden with corruption at every layer of its leadership. Some are just exemplary, like the case of Istana Zakaria in Klang. This is a sad tale of ‘ harapkan pagar, pagar makan padi ’ or put in other more suitable words, ‘ harapkan Umno, Umno makan rakyat ’.
By the way, I wonder what has happened to DAP leaders Teng Chang Khim and Ronnie Liu who were vigorous in exposing Zakaria’s misdeeds when they were in opposition but suddenly went so quiet after coming to power in Selangor? Where are you?
In Penang, a developer developed four or five housing estates. One after another, they became flood prone because of substandard construction. The developer enjoyed absolute immunity because a top state Umno leader’s wife was said to be a director of the said company.
The state government spent millions of public ringgit on several temporary measures to alleviate the suffering of thousands of people affected by the floods. Despite the case being highlighted, the Penang ex-chief minister not only never took any action against the developer but awarded the owner with a Datukship instead.
Back to Umno, it is funny that only now is Muhyiddin saying corruption in his party is rampant. Previously, when it worked to his favour, was it alright? Now it is not? The Umno vice- president, who is also international trade and industry minister, now says that ‘while vote-buying had in the past occurred in ballots for top Umno posts, it had now spread to the branch level’.
With this statement, ACA must by right spring into action and conduct a thorough investigation and take action. From Muhyiddin‘s comment, it seems it was okay when the corruption was rampant at national and divisional levels but now it is not okay because it has spread to the grassroots?
This statement is from a senior Umno leader and a minister. So it must be true. Based on such a statement, the Registrar of Society must declare Umno illegal (can somebody take this issue to courts?) and cancel its registration immediately.
In another shocking revelation, Umno has lost a court suit to Elegant Advisory for the supply of election materials. Umno, it seems, had even ordered mineral water from China. This is too much. The Malaysian public must know what is happening to their money. We have plenty of water yet we buy from China? Shame, shame, shame.
There is one very big question though. Where does Umno get so much of money to spend on these things? That’s only one supplier. There must be many more. It could run into billions of ringgit for every election.
Then there are Umno buildings and offices all over the country, assessments, quit rent, amenities, office equipment, aircons, luxury cars, computers, travelling, hotels, meetings at 5-star hotels, overseas traveling ... the list goes on and on.
Where does Umno get all the money? Even if it is through private contributions, nothing comes free. How much public money have they indirectly misappropriated or really, stolen?
Can anyone guess how much money the Barisan Nasional government is going to pour into Permatang Pauh? The government itself is the dispenser of massive corruption.
Umno is so drenched in corruption, one wonders how thick could the skin of their leaders who now talk about exposing it be. Now that a senior minister has complained in the open, what are the ACA and the police going to do about it?
